Lovers Dance at Midnight
by kitsune22
Summary: Danger...dancing beneath the moonlight and passionate confessions!...What's Vash the Stampede up to now??? Read on and find out!
1. Lovers Dance at Midnight

Trigun- Fan fiction  
  
Chapter 1: Lovers Dance at Midnight  
  
The blazing suns beat down on Noon City with all the rage of a shunned god. A hollow wind blew stray tumble weed across the dry dirt floor and whipped billions of tiny particles of dust into miniature tornadoes that swirled around the stranger's boot clad legs. There was hardly anyone in the streets, except for that tall, lone figure dressed in crimson, eyes covered by tiny yellow tinted shades. A stranger among strangers. Well, at least for the moment....  
  
"OH MR. VASH! PLEASE WAIT!"  
  
Vash groaned out loud in disbelief, and then glanced around to see Milly Thompson racing towards him, a distressed look on her normally cheerful face. He had just stepped out of the bar across the street when he heard his name being shouted out. No one in Noon City suspected him to be Vash the Stampede, but thanks to her, his cover was now blown. She stopped short, gasping for breath and struggling to straighten her disheveled clothes.  
  
"What's wrong?" Vash asked suspiciously. "How did you find me?"  
  
"Oh, Mr. Vash! I've been looking all over for you!" Milly wailed out. "It's Meryl! She's been kidnapped by the Kronos Brothers!"  
  
"WHAT!" Vash yelled out in surprise. An image of the spunky, dark haired, blue-eyed insurance girl flashed through his mind. "Whaddya mean she's been kidnapped?"  
  
"The Kronos Brothers are famous for robbing unusual places and this time it was the Bernardelli Insurance Company!" Milly was almost close to tears as she gazed up at Vash's apprehensive face. "When they couldn't find any money, they took Meryl hostage! And if we don't pay them 33 billion double- dollars by noon tomorrow, they're going to kill her!"  
  
This time the tears did fall from her eyes, washing tiny pathways down her dusty cheeks. Vash touched her trembling shoulders reassuringly.  
  
"Don't worry Milly; we'll get Meryl back safe and sound." He spoke calmly, while his insides churned with worry. The Kronos Brothers were the most cold-hearted bastards on the face of the planet and there was no telling what they'd do to Meryl.  
  
Milly gazed up at him beseechingly. "Do you promise?" She asked in a tiny whimpering voice.  
  
Vash's eyes narrowed in determination. "Of course I promise. But we have to get back to July City at once!" He replied quietly. "Then you can show me which direction those bastards took her!"  
  
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Vash shivered in his clothes and wrapped his arms around his shoulders in a meager attempt to ward of the stinging chill of the night. The wooded area two miles outside the town of July was an excellent haven for criminal master minds such as the Kronos Brothers and that was exactly where they had taken Meryl Stryfe. Vash and Milly had made the speedy trip back to Augusto, where one of the Bernardelli Insurance Company's was based; changing what would normally have been a two day trip into half a day's journey. He had had a hard time convincing the anxious and thoroughly exhausted Milly to remain in town while he went of the rescue Meryl. From his well concealed perch in the giant branches of an old oak tree, Vash watched the two men seated around a blazing campfire, a frightened and disheveled looking Meryl propped against a tree trunk, arms and feet bound, making any attempt at escape virtually impossible. It was time to move...  
  
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Meryl struggled against her bonds in vain. Those uncivilized bastards had tied the ropes so tight that her wrists were bruised and stained with blood. She leaned back against the tree trunk and closed her eyes in despair. Her situation seemed hopeless. There was NO way the Bernadelli Insurance Company could come up with 33 billion double dollars by noon the next day. And she prayed that someone would keep the rambunctious Milly from attempting to rescue her on her own. It was just too dangerous. She cracked her weary eyes open and glanced over at her captors. Dax and Mel Kronos, bandits extraordinaire. They were as cold blooded as the night and twice as vicious. She started suddenly when she realized that their beady little eyes were trained in her direction. The elder brother stood up and moved towards her.  
  
"Hey pretty lady!" Dax grinned nastily as he sidled closer. "It's gettin' mighty cold out here! How's about the two of us warming each other up?"  
  
"In your dreams!" Meryl snapped in fright. "Hell would have to freeze over before you touch me!"  
  
Across the campfire Dax's younger brother Mel, laughed uproariously at Meryl's plight. Dax grinned and the scar above his lip twisted his mouth into a sickening smile that sent chills racing down Meryl's spine. He kneeled before her, absently running his hands along her leg.  
  
"Well from the looks of things, it's close enough to freezing darlin'! So I guess we'll be cozying up real soon!" he chuckled and his foul breath washed over her in unwelcome waves.  
  
"Get your filthy hands off me!" Meril shouted heatedly, but soon realized her mistake as Dax's giant hand closed around her neck. She struggled to breathe as he watched with a grotesque intensity.  
  
"Don't think I'm good enough for ya huh?" he snarled as he shook her. "Well I'll show you a thing or two about me missy!"  
  
There was no denying the look of pleasure in his evil face as Meryl gasped and gagged and pummeled his unfeeling form with her bound fists.  
  
"Let..go.." she choked out desperately.  
  
Dax loosened his grip, leaned closer, flicked out his tongue and ran it along Meryl's cheek. She jerked her head away in disgust, unable to stop the tears from coming. She drew in a sharp breath when she noticed the gleaming blade of the wicked looking knife Dax had suddenly whipped out. He pressed the cold steel against her throat.  
  
Dax chuckled again. "Don't think I've got any problem with fucking your lifeless body sweetheart." His quiet words froze her heart. "It's all the same to me! So you better settle down and co-operate 'cause I'm sure you don't wanna die tonight!"  
  
"Hey Dax," Meryl heard his brother speaking from across the campfire. "When you're done with her she's mines until they pay the ransom!"  
  
Dax returned his attention to the trembling girl. "Don't worry little brother," he replied with a smile. "I'm sure we can come up with a way to share her equally!"  
  
Meryl squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't dare look into his face. Suddenly the idea of Milly attempting a solo rescue mission didn't seem so bad.  
  
A twig snapping loudly drew the attention of both men. Dax released Meryl and stood, glancing around the tiny clearing suspiciously. Mel had already drawn his gun.  
  
"What was that?" Dax frowned as the sound repeated itself.  
  
Suddenly the bushes rustled and parted and a tall man clad in red stumbled out. The Kronos Brothers reacted in alarm and Mel quickly pointed the steel barrel of the gun in the stranger's direction.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Dax demanded his body tensed with nervousness.  
  
Meryl blinked rapidly in surprise. "I must be seeing things..." She murmured in disbelief.  
  
"Hey guys, what's going on?" the stranger gave a friendly wave and the Kronos brothers stared at him in dumbfounded silence.  
  
"VASH!" Meryl cried out, relief flooding over her.  
  
The brothers started at the name uttered. "Did you say VASH?" Mel asked. "As in Vash the Stampede?"  
  
Vash grinned ridiculously. "Yep! That would be me!" he scratched his head absentmindedly. "Sorry to interrupt your little camp party fellas but this young lady you've got there has been out WAY past her bedtime, so if you don't mind, I'll just take her home now."  
  
The Kronos Brothers stared at Vash in shock. "Is this guy for real?" Dax muttered out loud.  
  
Vash walked calmly over to Meryl, pulled a tiny blade from the folds of his coat, cut away her bonds and helped her to her feet. She would've been stunned at his fearless attitude had she not seen him act so recklessly before. The sound of the gun's safety clicking off stopped them both. Vash turned to face the brothers, his goofy expression replaced with cold resolve.  
  
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Dax snarled, now aiming his own weapon directly at Vash.  
  
"I'm taking the lady home. It's WAY to cold for her to be out so late." He spoke calmly, but his eyes were blazing behind the tinted shades. The bastard had touched her. HIS Meryl. His, even if he hadn't really acknowledged the fact.  
  
"You're either the biggest fucking fool on the face of this planet," Dax's eyes glittered as he spoke. "Or you actually ARE Vash the Stampede! Either way, you're going to die!"  
  
"I don't want any trouble." Vash replied. "I'm just here for the girl."  
  
Dax's body shook with momentary laughter. "You hear that little brother? He's just here for the girl!" The laughter was quickly replaced by cold malice. "Did you really think you could walk in and out of here VASH THE STAMPEDE?"  
  
Dax fired his gun and the roar of a bullet leaving the safety of the weapon's chambers echoed in Meryl's brain as it bore down on Vash, moments after she heard him whisper in her ear, "May I have this dance?"  
  
He pulled her roughly into his arms so that their bodies were pressed together and twirled them both away from the oncoming bullet. It missed its mark by inches, shattering the bark from the tree trunk before which they'd been standing. Another bullet fired, this time from Mel's weapon and bits of grass flew into the air around them. Again Vash dodged, Meryl wrapped safely in his embrace. She gazed up at him, her mind blank, body limp against his as he performed his gunfighter's mesmerizing ballet. She had seen him do it so many times before. But it was so completely different now that she had become a part of his graceful dance, part of him, as he twirled and dipped them out of the path of tiny steel rounds that spat out from the barrels of the Kronos Brothers' weapons of death.  
  
"He should be called "Vash the Bullet Dodger instead.." Meryl thought dreamily, her mind completely detached from the situation at hand.  
  
And in one fluid motion, Vash drew his own gun, his eyes, although hidden by the tinted shades, never leaving Meryl's face. Two clean shots were fired and the Kronos Brother's crumpled to the ground. Crimson stained the velvet green of the forest floors. The dance was over. Meryl slid from Vash's arms and sank to the ground. Her heart ached with the fright of the moment and the sight of Vash before her. To say that she was surprised to see him was the biggest understatement of the decade. One year had passed since she'd last seen him. One year she'd waited. One year with no word from him.  
  
"How...did you find me?" she asked quietly.  
  
Vash sighed. "Milly came to me. She told me you'd been kidnapped." He wasn't sure of what to do now. Wasn't sure if was too late to tell her how he felt. He's spent an entire year, wandering around aimlessly, before he finally realized that the void in his heart could only be filled by her presence. Yet he still couldn't find his way back to her. Until tonight....  
  
Meryl rose, her back still towards him, and walked away. Walked swiftly until she felt her legs breaking into a run. She had no idea where she was running to. She stopped and knelt before a tiny stream to catch her breath. Silvery moonlight shimmered off the rippling water as it rushed merrily around rocks and river weeds, flowing away into oblivion. Her heart skipped a beat when she felt his presence beside her. They both sat in silence, gazing at each other's reflection in the stream, both searching for some sign on the other's rippling features.  
  
Finally Meryl broke the silence. "Would you have..ever come back Vash?" she whispered into the cold night air. "Had I not been in danger, would you have ever returned?"  
  
Vash glanced at her. Her heart was in her eyes, shattered and revealed for him to see her pain. He knew it was time to set things right. He'd wasted enough of it already. He pulled her around to face him and removed his shades, tucking them safely into his pocket.  
  
"I WAS coming back Meryl," he spoke honestly. "But I needed to find peace with myself before I came to you. I wanted nothing more than to be with you but I guess I was a little afraid.."  
  
"I waited for you Vash...." Meryl wanted desperately to hold on to the anger she'd bottled up inside for that year. But as she gazed into his eyes she could feel it rapidly melting away like winter snow before the blaze of spring sunshine.  
  
"You don't have to wait anymore Meryl," he whispered with feeling. "I'm here now and I won't ever leave you again..."  
  
There were no more words between them as Vash leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. She was startled by their warmth and a shiver of anticipation raced through her body. She kissed him back with all the passion that had swelled and grown inside her from that first moment she'd met him. Vash felt her hands against his heart and her heat seeped into him. He'd never wanted anything as badly as he wanted her now. Their clothing came off easily and they explored each other with the wide eyed wonder of newborn babies at play. He lay next to her on the soft dew drenched grass and ran his hands along her velvet smooth legs and upwards to cup her full breast. She arched towards him, moaning as he blazed a trail of tiny, feather light kisses from her neck to her breasts, all the way down to her quivering navel.  
  
"VASH...." she whispered his name and the wind stole it away, only to return it to his awaiting ears, more sweeter than when she first spoke it. Her body trembled beneath his as she ran her hands across his chest, down his back to grip his firm buttocks. She nibbled on his earlobe and he groaned. Her other hand found his swollen manhood, caressed it tenderly and watched as his face melted with passion. He kissed her deeply, tasting her nectar and stealing her husky breath as it came in short gasps as his fingers found the hardened nub of her womanhood and massaged it gently. She was wet and ready for him. Still, he wanted to prolong her pleasure as much as he could. Holding her hands captive above her head, he nipped gently at the underside of her creamy breasts. She whimpered and bucked and as he moved to suckle her, her lithe body growing warmer and warmer with suppressed desire. And when his lips found the softness that made her a woman, and his tongue flicked agilely back and forth across her swollen clitoris, she lost all control and thrashed her head from side to side, crying out his name over and over again as she climaxed, not once, but twice. He released her arms and she pulled him up towards her, kissing him tenderly, tasting her own juices on his lips.  
  
She opened her legs and he slid inside her warm, waiting chambers. Her quivering muscles closed around his hardness and pulled him into an abyss of endless, fiery passion. He was lost in the depths of her soul and he thrust himself deeper into her. Meryl gasped as the sweetness swept over her and she dug her nails into his back, grinding her hips against his in her heat. They moved together in a lover's dance of passion, wrapped in a tight embrace as wave after pleasurable wave swept over them until finally they both erupted into molten hot sensations of the final climax. Their sated bodies stilled, and they lay wrapped in each other's arms, hearts beating as one beneath the rays of the beautiful New moons. Sleep came, sweet and relaxing and nestled the spent lovers in her warm wings, sweeping them both away to a never ending realm of lover's delight. For now, they had found a piece of heaven...  
  
THE END..(Please Read and Review!) 


	2. The Coming of Winter

Trigun Fan fiction  
  
Chapter 2: The Coming of Winter  
  
Okay, I realized that I've neglected to add this disclaimer thingie for quite some time now so here goes...I DO NOT own Trigun or any of its characters and settings. If I did I wouldn't be writing fanfic. Instead I'd most likely be living in a house in Beverly Hills sipping crystal. Anyway, I'm not gonna write this again (it's too damn tedious!) so it therefore applies to the remainder of the chapters and all my other fanfic.  
  
Thank you!  
  
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Her sweetness was intoxicating....  
  
It suddenly occurred to Vash that he could not get enough of Meryl as she wrapped her long, slim legs around his bare waist and drove him deeper inside her pulsating chambers. She dug her nails into his shoulders and moaned out his name.  
  
"Vash...."  
  
On her lips it sounded more like a tantalizing plea than a simple form of identification and he loved it. Never in a thousand years had Vash thought he would be able to experience such exquisite pleasure. He buried his head in Meryl's shoulder and rotated his lean hips against hers, earning yet another breathy exclamation from the tiny insurance girl. Consumed by passion, she rolled him over with a fierce growl and mounted him.  
  
The silvery rays of the three moons found their way through the open window of the room and wrapped itself around Meryl's creamy, sweat-slicked skin, causing her to glow like an alabaster angel. A fiery angel that had rescued him from the depths of a lonely hell. He had never seen her so alive before. Her dark hair was tousled from their lovemaking and her cornflower blue eyes sparkled and burned with a heat that he was afraid might sear him to a cinder.  
  
Meryl gazed down at Vash. Watched his handsome features as she slowly gyrated her hips against his own, watched as he groaned and griped her waist, steadying her rhythm and joining her dance with full, firm thrusts of his own. She was burning up from the inside out and it was all because of this blonde-haired enigma who had stolen her heart and ravished her body like no one ever had before. She leaned down and kissed him deeply; her tongue entwining with his and chasing the sweet nectar of his mouth for a brief moment before she caught his lower lip between her teeth and nibbled tenderly. Vash ran his hands along her back and around to cup her full breasts, gently massaging her taut nipples with his thumb and forefinger. She whimpered and bucked and worked her hips faster. He squeezed his eyes shut and lost himself in ecstasy.  
  
"God Meryl!" he gasped out in a slightly strangled voice. "You feel...so...good...."  
  
He jerked her back down unto the rumpled bed-sheets and she surrendered to him as he blazed hot kisses down her neck and chest, suckled her breasts greedily and continued a fiery path with his soft lips down her stomach until he came to her womanhood. A series of prolonged licks on her swollen clitoris caused the highly aroused Meryl to shiver uncontrollably. He nipped the inside of her satiny smooth thighs a few places then covered the momentary pain with the sweetest of kisses. Meryl called out his name huskily and tugged him up towards her waiting lips. Vash re-positioned himself between her legs, entered her honey and became lost once more. She was warm and wet and tight and he was on fire as she sucked on his neck and earlobes fiercely. He thrust deeper and deeper into her and her muscles vibrated against his swollen manhood. He could feel the steady yet frantic beating of her heart against his chest and he suddenly stilled his movements to gaze down at her. She was utterly beautiful, a lithe, passionate wood nymph whose slightest touch could send him over the brink of insanity. She was his blessing, his redemption, his heat. His eyes met her somewhat questioning gaze and he felt his heart contract painfully.  
  
So this is what it feels like....he thought. This is what it feels like to love....  
  
He closed his own eyes and a single tear slid down his cheek. His breath came in raspy gasps and he thought his chest would explode from sheer wanting.  
  
"Meryl......." he murmured achingly. "You're my life now....I.....I can't...there aren't....enough words....to tell you..."  
  
He felt her hands on his cheeks, tender and warm, heard her gently voice calling to him.  
  
"Vash?" she whispered sweetly. "Open your eyes Vash..."  
  
He obeyed and his eyes met hers and as he gazed into their mesmerizing blue depths he saw the understanding and compassion that he'd been searching for. Saw the love and desire that mirrored his own feelings. Saw the stars and the moon and the universe and the life he had longed for. Saw her smile and felt her hips move against his and knew he was alive. After a long, cold winter, he was finally awake. Their dance resumed and the pace quickened as he stroked her deeper and harder and faster and she gasped out his name with each move. Her hips rose to meet his thrusts, their lips touching, each stealing the other's ecstatic moans. She griped him tightly and whimpered and he knew she was fast approaching her release. He was nearing his own climax, the third for that passion filled night and he could barely control his own movements as his hips thrust with a wildness and ferocity he was sure would kill the small woman in his arms. Yet she didn't protest, so he didn't slow his speed and a soul shattering climax swept over them both in undulating waves, leaving them spent and trembling in each other's arms. Silence replaced the earlier sounds of lovemaking and they slept peacefully.  
  
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Vash awoke to the sound of loud voices filtering up towards him from somewhere outside. He squinted his eyes against the flood of sunlight pouring through the still open window of his hotel room then rolled over and reached for Meryl.  
  
His hand found emptiness and he let it fall limply back unto the rumpled sheets and the bare space where Meryl had slept the night before. Her absence was no longer surprising. What did affect him was the loneliness that washed over him each time he woke to find her gone. This had become a routine for her since they had become lovers. Two nights after they had first been intimate, after he'd rescued her from the Kronos Brothers, she'd slipped quietly into his hotel room, shed her clothes before his surprised and wanting eyes and asked him in the softest of voices to hold her in his arms again. Vash had done so without hesitation and they had loved each other with the same intensity as the first moment they'd touched. When he awoke the next morning she was gone and he found himself wondering if it had all been a dream, some cruel trick of the gods. But the following night she was there again and he knew his heart had not been deceiving him. And so it had continued since they had arrived in May City.  
  
He sighed and rolled into a sitting position at the edge of the bed and buried his head in his hands tiredly. He understood why she never stayed, knew exactly what she felt and he could never bring himself to ask her to remain. His business with Knives was over and done with but he was still an outlaw, still the Humanoid Typhoon. There was no telling what tomorrow had in store, no predicting what turn his life might take and no foretelling of the dangers it could bring. Yet he wanted her to stay. As selfish as it sounded, he needed her by his side.  
  
Vash rose and walked over to the window and looked out. He closed his eyes and lifted his face towards the sky, allowing the warmth of the two suns to wash over him like the purest spring water, letting their golden rays seep into his bare skin and chase away the final remnants of sleep. He opened his eyes and glanced down into the square. It was a typical Sunday in May City and there was hardly anyone out and about, save one or two industrious persons. Most of the men who formed a loud, boisterous drinking group that hung around the streets practically every day of the week, were either to hung over to make it outside or had been dragged of to church by their disgruntled wives in an ongoing attempt to cleanse their husbands' sinful souls.  
  
And then he saw her. She was standing in front of the diner across the street, her head lowered so that he could not really discern her features. Yet there was no mistaking who she was. Vash would never forget.  
  
It can't be....his mind was racing and his heart had suddenly begun thumping painfully against his chest.  
  
But as he gazed hungrily at the tall, lithe figure with the flowing dark hair, a strange, unexplainable coldness settled over him and he shivered.  
  
Winter is here for you....Vash the Stampede...  
  
The chilling voice filtered into the recesses of his mind causing him to jerk fearfully away from the window. His silver revolver was lying on the dresser next to the unmade bed and he reached quickly to grasp it up, the familiar weight lending momentary reassurance to his pattering heart. He returned to the window and stared down. She had not moved and was now gazing up at him. Even with the distance between them he could still see the sinister smile twisting her lovely face. Rem Saverem had returned from the dead.  
  
Hello Vash...it's been a long time hasn't it? Did you miss me?  
  
The voice was taunting and empty and he knew that somehow she was speaking to him from down in the street.  
  
"Rem..." Vash choked out, as the same dank coldness wrapped itself tightly around him. Overhead, in the lovely blue skies, the sun was blazing.  
  
I may still look the same Vash, but do not be mistaken! Appearances can be quite deceiving! But you will know me soon enough. What you see before you is the Winter...I have brought the Winter...just for you...only for you...Vash the Stampede!  
  
Vash felt her voice inside his head like an icy hand numbing his very soul. How could Rem be so frigid? How could she feel so much like death?  
  
The woman across the street smiled again and this time Vash caught a glimpse of the cold hatred that burned in her eyes. Her hollow, mocking laughter echoed inside his mind.  
  
Watch me Vash...watch me, and I will show you just how cold the Winter can really be!  
  
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"Hey Meryl, is everything okay?"  
  
Millie's high-pitched voice filtered into the other woman's reverie. They were having their breakfast at the diner across the street from their hotel. Meryl glanced up absently at Millie's concerned face and sighed. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts of Vash that she'd been neglecting her friend.  
  
"I'm sorry Millie," She smiled reassuringly. "It's nothing really; I'm just a little distracted today."  
  
"It's about Mr. Vash, isn't it Meryl?" Millie's wide blue eyes held a wisdom that her everyday actions often bellied. "You don't have to say anything. I understand. But please just try to enjoy our vacation anyway!"  
  
Meryl smiled gratefully. "Thank you Millie. I will." She said simply and reached out to squeeze the other woman's hand across the table.  
  
She glanced through the glass window as she sipped her coffee and smiled slightly as she recalled the feel of Vash's hands against her bare skin. Pure magic...like the stars and the moonlight and their passion.  
  
A figure standing just outside the window caught Meryl's eye. A figure of a tall, slender woman with long dark hair that swept over her shoulders and down her back. A woman that was somewhat familiar. A chill raced along Meryl's spine and she shivered conspicuously.  
  
"Meryl?" Millie peered at her friend. "What's wrong now? You look like you've just seen a ghost!"  
  
She blinked and the woman was gone. An odd mixture of fear and dread washed over her.  
  
"What are you looking at?" Millie glanced out the window in confusion. There was no one there.  
  
"It's...nothing...I just..." Meryl frowned and glanced out the window again. How strange..she thought...it's like she's vanished!  
  
A gunshot resonated through the air and shattered the normalcy. Both Meryl and Millie jumped to their feet in fright. Already the other patrons had rushed out the door and were converging at the source of the disturbance along with a few other people who had been lounging in the streets. The insurance girls pushed through the small crowd and stopped short in horror. Moro Landers, the town blacksmith, lay in the dirt nestled by a pool of dark blood, an ugly, gaping gun-shot wound in his stomach.  
  
"Somebody go get Doc Perkins out here NOW!" the sheriff shouted as he knelt beside the man.  
  
"Everybody get back!" he ordered waving his arm at the crowd of horrified yet curious onlookers. "Give the man room to breathe damnit!"  
  
"Wh...who did this?" Millie gasped out, her eyes wide with fear and pity.  
  
Meryl felt Vash before she actually saw him and turned just as he came racing out of the hotel, his crimson coat billowing around his boots. He joined the crowd and sidled over to the girls. She glanced at him and drew in a worried breath. His face was pale and his eyes, those beautiful aquamarine eyes, were pooled with dread. Dread and something else. Something Meryl could not quite recognize. For the second time during that morning, she felt a chill race through her.  
  
The man lying in the dirt gripped the sheriff's arm, coughed and dribbled blood. The sheriff shook him slightly.  
  
"Hang in there Moro," the sheriff urged nervously. "The doctor's on his way. Just take it easy."  
  
The hairs on the back of Meryl's neck prickled and she glanced about uneasily. She sensed someone else watching this tragedy...watching them...relishing their terror. A cold wind whipped around the small gathering and Meryl wrapped her arms around herself, surprised to see the others in the crowd also mimicking her action.  
  
They must feel it too...she thought as she glanced at Vash again. His face was now an unreadable mask. She reached out and tentatively touched his arm yet he didn't move or turn towards her. He remained frozen, his eyes never leaving the blacksmith's bloody body.  
  
"Come on Moro, just hang in there!" the sheriff gave him another slight shake and the wounded blacksmith groaned in pain. "Tell me, who did this? Who shot you?"  
  
Moro gagged and coughed up more blood. "He...he was...in...inside the shop...waiting..." he was barely audible.  
  
"WHO? Who was it?" the sheriff demanded anxiously.  
  
Moro's head lolled to the side and his glazed eyes found the tall figure in the crimson coat. They widened. He lifted his hand and pointed weakly in Vash's direction.  
  
"It was...it was him...it was Vash...the Stampede..." Moro gagged and sputtered and drew in his last breath harshly.  
  
Meryl gasped disbelievingly and turned to Vash. His face had paled even more and his shoulders trembled.  
  
"No..." she heard him whisper, his voice laced with agony.  
  
But he wasn't looking at the dead man or at her. His fearful blue-green eyes were staring at something...or someone else.  
  
Meryl followed the direction of his gaze and saw her. She was standing across the street in front of the blacksmith's shop. The woman with the long, dark hair and lifeless brown eyes. Eyes that were as bleak and deadly as the winter.  
  
THE END... (Please READ and REVIEW) 


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